Binder



stipt 25 1950 `ran-l. NEusc'H-WAINDER 2,523,922

BINDER Filed Dec. 15, 1947 3g e@ 2g latentedSept.V 26, 1950 UNITED STATES .Y TENT' YOFFICE binders and more specifically to a device for releasably securing together in compact form an aligned stack or bundle of perforated sheets or paper.

It is an important object of my invention to provide a loose leaf binder Wlnch is adapted for use with sheets having very small apertures. Such sheets, which have come into extensive employment for listing and tabulating purposes, are generally incapable of satisfactory attachment by loose leaf fasteners presently in use, since the apertures in the sheets will frequently not accommodate the fastening means designed to be passed through apertures of usual size. Other of such devices having ilexible fastening means are cumbersome and inefhcient when used with sheets having small perforations because of the difficulty of threading such fastening `means through the stack.

In my binder these difliculties are overcome by the use of a fastening means, such as cord, capable of passing through very small apertures and which despite its small cross-sectional area has considerable tensile strength necessary to eifect a tight binding. Moreover, I employ a doubled or looped cord which is very easily guided through the small stack holes and secured7 without lacing, in the manner to be more fully described hereinafter.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a binder of this character which is capable,

on being tightened or closed, of exerting sufficient force to draw the sheets very closely together so that they will occupy as small a space as possible. And to reduce the bulk of the bound stack to the minimum effective size for ling purposes, it is my further object to provide a binder which when so tightened will assume a fiat position parallel to the sheets and not itselfk add materially to the size of the package thus formed.

This I accomplish by use of a vertically pivoted lever capable of drawing taut the-cord, which in `turn causes a pair of binding plates, which hold Y the stack between them, to be pulled toward each other and compress the stack. The lever is adapted to be depressed ontightening into; an aperture in the upper plate of the device, so that in the closed position it is ilus'h with and wholly confined Within the upper binding plate. Thus with my binder a minimum sized bundle results from the forceful compression of the sheets, without adding to the bulk of the sheets theme selves anything more than the mere thickness of plates compressing them.

1 claim. (01.24467).

Another object ci the inventionis to provide a device which is adaptable for use with variable thickness stacks of sheets so that either a few or a large number of sheets may be bound together, as desired, and which may be easily rapidlyA adjusted whenthe thickness of the stach. is altered by the addition or subtraction ci sheets therefrom, while still maintaining a uniform compression or tightening when the bindingis secured.

Another object is to provide a binderwhich is simpleand inexpensive to fabricate and is capable ofrbeing made in volume production from stamped, molded or machined metal or plastic parts.

FurtherY objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and from the drawings, which are for illustrative purpose only and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a stack of sheets having marginal perforations therein,v showing two of the binders of my invention as applied to use therewith;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the device with the paper shownV in dot and dash lines; v

Fig. 3 is a top view with a fragment of the cord being omitted for clarity;

Fig. iis an end elevational View of the leftn handportion of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view 'taken on the broken line 5 5 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows. Referring to Fig. l in detail, the stack or bundle of aligned sheets H is compressed by each binder indicated generally at Hl between an upper plate i2 and a lower plate I 3. rThe plates are drawn toward each other by means of a flexible connection ifi which may be of any supple material of suiiiciently small diameter to enable threading through sheet perforations iii suiiicient tensile strength to withstand the com siderableiorce which must be exerted on the sheets to bind and hold them tightly together. I have, found cords made of synthetic iilaments such as NYLON very suitable for this. purpose `andfor ease in threading and attachment of the looped end I prefer to use a doubled length of small diameter, high -test NYLON cord. I-Iown `ever; other iiexible cords, such as rayon, silk or linen may; be satisfactorily employed provided they are oigsufcient tensile strength.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the upper plate l2 is generally rectangular in shape with V-shaped guide notches i6 and Il cut out atl the left and right endsl thereof, respectively, the guide notch -1 6 leadnatoazcountersnk le .whicnis capable of receiving the flexible connection I4 therethrough but small enough in diameter to retain and prevent displacement of a knotted end I5 of the exible connection I4. The guide notch II leads to an aperture 22 which is also of sufficient size to enable the flexible connection I4 to pass through the plate I2.

In the upper plate there is cut out a generally rectangular aperture 25 which receives a similarly shaped lever 26 pivotally mounted therein on a transverse pin 21. The lever 26 is slightly shorter than the aperture 25 and has a rounded fulcrurn end 28 positioned adjacent a convexly curved surface 29 of the right-hand end wall of the aperture 25, thus providing clearance to permit the lever 25 to swing through a relatively wide arc. In depressed or closed position, the lever assumes a position iiush with the upper and lower surfaces of the upper plate I2 and it is releasably locked in such position by the lever tip 39 which is bifurcated to form resilient fingers 3l which frictionally engage the sides of the aperture 25. The degree of spread of the fingers 3l may be increased to adjust for the tightness of fit required to maintain the lever 26 in closed position against the pull of the flexible connection I4, in a very simple manner by the use of a screwdriver to wedge open or separate the fingers 3l. To facilitate releasing the binder from the closed position shown in Fig. 5, the tip 30 of the lever 26 is beveled inwardly to permit the insertion of a screwdriver or other instrument between the tip 30 and an adjacent end wall 34 of the aperture 25 to pry the lever 26 upward. A series of pairs of notches or serrations 33 staggered along the lateral edges of the lever 26 are adapted to receive the exible connection I4 and provide for adjustment of the device to accommodate various sized stacks of paper, as will be more fully described hereinafter. Such serrations 33 may extend perpendicularly to the top and bottom surfaces of the lever 26 as shown in the drawing or slant toward the right to facilitate the retention of the flexible connection.

The lower plate I3 is generally rectangular in shape and is provided with a pair of apertures 35 of sufcient size to accommodate the flexible connection I4 therethrough, said apertures being spaced the identical distance apart as are the upper plate apertures I9 and 22.

My binder is very easily and simply employed to fasten a stack of perforated sheets in the following manner. The flexible connection I4 is first prepared by doubling the NYLON cord to form a dual strand of a length equal to twice the thickness of the stack II plus a constant of approximately one and one-half times the distance between the .plate apertures I9 and 22 and having a looped end and a knotted end. The looped end of the flexible connection I4 is then guided through the notch I6 to the aperture I9 and pulled through until the knot I5 is nested in the countersink. The sheets to be bound are aligned and the iiexible connection I4 is threaded downwardly through a stack aperture I8 and an aperture 35 of the lower plate I3. Then it is looped around the bottom surface of the lower plate and up through the other lower plate aperture 35, thence through a corresponding stack aperture IB and via the notch I 'I through the upper plate aperture 22. Such threading operation may be assisted by the use of a bobby-pin, hair-pin or the like as a guide means to pull through the loop. The lever 26 is now swung to the position shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 2 Vor even further in a clockwise rotation to its extreme open position, and the looped end of the connection I4 is placed around the lever 26 with each strand fitting into one of the notches 33 of any suitable pair. The lever is now closed or rotated in the counterclockwise direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, whereby the lever 28 draws taut the connection I4 and clamps the stack I I between the two plates I2 and I3 which are drawn toward each other by the tightening of the flexible connection. The lever 26 is forcibly depressed until it assumes a position iiush within the upper plate I2 where it is maintained against the pull of the connection I4 by the resilient fingers 3I.

To open the binder, the lever is lifted and rotated clockwise, a screwdriver or other small wedging device being helpful in prying loose the tip 39 from its engagement. Sheets may then be easily added or subtracted from the stack II without repeating the entire threading operation through the stack, since the upper plate alone may be disengaged from the stack by slipping the connection I4 out of the apertures I9 and 22 and through their respective guide notches I6 and Il. After alteration of the stack, the connection I4 is engaged with the upper plate in the reverse operation. In the event more sheets have been added to the stack I I, the loop end of the connection is passed around the lever at a point closer to the fulcrum end 28 thereof and the individual strands are fitted into a pair of notches 33 at such point. Conversely, if adjustment is to be made for a smaller stack of sheets the loop is moved toward the lever tip 36 and the strands of the connection I4 pass through notches 33 near that end. Thus it is apparent that adjustment for the size of the stack, or tightness of binding of any given stack, may be very simply made by moving the loop end of the connection I@ to various provided positions on the lever 26. When such adjustment is properly made, the depression of the lever 26 will cause a considerable compressive force to be exerted on the stack by the drawing together of the plates I2 and I3 and the stack will, accordingly, be very firmly bound and reduced in thickness. Since the lever 26 assumes a position within the upper plate I2 when closed, the binder itself adds to the bulk of the package only the thickness of its plates I2 and I3, which need not be considerable, particularly if fabricated of relatively thin stamped out metal parts.

Although I have shown in the Fig. l two such binders in use, it is obvious that one or an indefinite plurality of such devices may be employed for a single stack of sheets, depending on the size of the individual sheets and the perforations therein.

While I have herein shown and described my improved binder as embodied in a preferred form of construction, by way of example, it will be apparent that the structure may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention. Consequently, I do not wish to be limited in this respect but desire to be afforded the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

A loose leaf binder adapted to bind together a stack of perforated sheets including: an upper plate disposed against one side of the stack of sheets, said upper plate having a centrally 1ocated rectangular aperture formed therein and having a guide notch formed in each end thereof; a lower plate disposed against the opposite side of the stack of sheets; a lever pivotally mounted within said aperture at one end thereof on an axis extending transversely of said upper plate, said lever having a plurality of pairs of notches spaced along the lateral edges thereof and having a bifurcated free end, the width of which is slightly greater than the width of said central aperture; and a iiexible cord extending through the upper plate and through the perforations in the sheets and around the lower plate, one end of said ilexible cord being disposed within one of said guide notches in one end of said upper plate and being retained by said upper plate and the other end of said flexible cord being looped, said looped end passing through the other or" said guide notches in the opposite end of said upper plate and being engaged in any one of said pairs of notches upon the lateral edges of said lever, said lever being adapted upon pivotal movement in one direction to frictionally engage its said bifurcated end Within said aperture and to tighten said flexible cord.

EUGENE HERR NEUSCHWANDER.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 369,207 Ready Aug. 30, 1887 619,812 Ward Feb. 21, 1899 814,608 Johnson Mar. 6, 1906 981,602 Adams Jan. 17, 1911 1,016,496 Y Hai-ling et al. Feb. 6, 1912 1,359,606 Knoch Nov. 23, 1920 1,696,118 Heintz Dec. 18, 1928 1,758,210 Woodhouse May 13, 1930 1,910,792 Daniels May 23, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country 'Date 412,770 Great Britain July 5, 1934 

